Julie Staelen Cattelin and Matthias Cattelin
San Fransisco, California
Julie and Matthias Cattelin are a power couple, to say the least. They have dedicated their life to enhancing dining experiences and creating spaces that emulate what makes food special to them. They are on a new adventure in San Fransisco re-opening the 3 Michelin star restaurant, Quince, after their 20-year anniversary and help opening a new space called Officina. Julie and Matthais have created a luscious culinary life for themselves.
Full name, age, where are you from?
Julie Staelen Cattelin, 26, Bollezeele, France
Matthias Cattelin, 29, Ploërmel, Brittany
What is your title and where do you work?
Julie: I studied service in Europe for almost a decade. About a year ago, I moved from Brittany to San Francisco to further my culinary education with Chef Michael and Lindsay Tusk’s restaurants Quince and Cotogna. I recently helped to open a new events space called Officina. Now, it’s all hands on deck assisting in reopening Quince after a 9-month renovation in honor of the restaurant’s 20th anniversary.
Matthias: I worked in Michelin-starred restaurants in France and the Netherlands for just under a decade before traveling to San Francisco. At Quince and at the Tusks’ new events space Officina, I focus on the wine program–helping to identify and source interesting producers that might complement Chef Tusk’s menu.
Was food a big part of your upbringing?
Julie: Food is all I remember about my upbringing. I was always in the kitchen with my mom and grandmother, watching them cook.
I didn’t know my dad’s parents, but they were in the restaurant business, so it must be in my DNA.
Matthias: My grandfather was a chef in Paris, and he taught me the fundamentals of French cooking. My grandparents opened a butchery when they moved to Brittany that eventually was run by my parents, Boucherie Cattelin. I spent a lot of time as a baby in that shop!
What are your earliest memories of dining out?
Julie: My parents fell in love in Corsica. When I was about 8, we flew there, and our first stop was at L’Ustaria Chez Martin, a rustic auberge-style restaurant that serves classic, old-school food from the island: Omelette with Brucciu, charcuterie, figatellu (sausage of pig’s liver, cooked over the BBQ). All the vegetables came from Chef Martin’s garden. It’s the sort of experience I’m constantly trying to recreate.
Matthias: My earliest memory is from the first holiday with my parents in the southwest of France near Cahors. We had some delicious duck breast, cheese, and wine.
If you could give a piece of advice to someone who wanted to pursue your career, what would it be?
Julie: Travel. It’s enormously valuable for me to bring to San Francisco reference points from France and Italy and Spain.
In France, fine dining restaurant hospitality isn’t just a job, it's a proper career. Of course, it requires a different lifestyle than working as a banker or a lawyer, but it’s similarly honorable.
Matthias: To my mind, hospitality is a passion before it’s a job. Study a lot on the side. I’m more confident when I’m as knowledgeable as possible about products and the stories of the places where they’re made.
What's your favorite dish/drink on the menu?
Julie: The Focaccia di Recco at Cotogna is a thin and crispy focaccia stuffed with stracchino cheese and finished with olive oil and salt. I had never seen that dish anywhere in France. It is simple but incredibly satisfying and comforting.
Champagne Vincent Couche, coming from L'Aube–the southern part of the champagne region–is a vibrant blend of pinot noir and chardonnay. The savory flavors plus the very gentle bubbles are a wonderful pairing with the Recco.
Matthias: Carbonara pizza: thin light crust with guanciale, pecorino fonduta, farm egg, and black pepper. It is definitely the best pizza I ever had, but if there is no pizza on the menu, I will go for a Bistecca
I’d pair it with a wine from a new producer from Emilia Romagna called Chiara Condello. She’s producing an incredibly easy-drinking but complex red wine from Sangiovese. The wine is so food friendly, it works well with
What is your favorite place to go out and eat at and what are you ordering?
Julie: State Bird Provisions is lovely. Their specialty over there is the fried quail. The signature buttermilk 24-hour marinade in combination with cayenne, paprika, lemon zest, black pepper, pumpkin seeds – I always go for it! It is delicious. Also of note - they have these nice pancakes that change with the season. Fluffy, gorgeous and flavorful.
Matthias: Le Soufflot, every time we go to Burgundy - we make sure to stop and feast. A small, fine dining restaurant located in the middle of a massive vineyard, with a huge wine list and one tasting menu. Everything is sourced locally - it is amazing! I wish I could list all of the dishes but the ones that made a deep impression are the mushrooms tartellette, beef tartare, and their duck with beetroot vinaigrette. I still dream about that duck.
You’re on a desert island, what are the 5 kitchen items you need to run your business?
Julie:
spit roasted grill
case of champagne
a Michele Bras knife set
a wooden salad bowl
fishing pole
Matthias:
wine key
Zalto glasses
case of red wine
bistecca
coffee machine
